Our Big News

If you've been keeping track of us on social media you've probably already heard this, as it feels like it's being blasted from every corner of the book world, but we have BIG NEWS.

Our first book, MY LADY JANE, is going to be a TV series on Amazon Prime. 

No, really. It is. It begins filming in London very soon.

All three of us feel like we're living in a kind of wonderful alternate universe, one in which we wrote a book, and now we're going to see it all come to life, with amazing actors and gorgeous sets and beautiful costumes and all of the things. To say that we're excited would be an understatement. We are thrilled. After three years of working with the amazing Gemma Burgess, the best showrunner and screenwriter we could have asked for, and Parkes and McDonald, the production company that brought you Men in Black, Zorro, Catch Me If You Can, and Gladiator, it's finally happening.

No, really. It is.

Jane will be played by Emily Bader, who some of you will know from being Paranormal Activity 4 and others will recognize as Chloe from the new Charmed series. We love her.

G will be played by Edward Bluemel, who we love in everything we've ever seen him in, especially Killing Eve and A Discovery of Witches. !!!! (Some of us may have actually screamed upon learning this. Or all of us... There's been a lot of screaming and squealing for us lately.)

And Edward will be played by Jordan Peters, who's in a flurry of things lately including the new Flowers in The Attic series, Everything I Know About Love, Pirates, and Blue Story. 

There's not a lot more we can say about it just now, but go to the imdv page here if you'd like to see the other people who are officially involved. 

More updates to come!

(*Screams!)

(*Squeals!)

No, really. It's happening.

Book Tour Summer 2021

 Hey there! Our new book, MY CONTRARY MARY, is coming out next week, and we are going on a (virtual) book tour to celebrate. We always read a little bit from the book, laugh a lot, and offer fun swag (in this case, a bunch of signed bookplates). Click on the links below so you can register/get tickets.

Link to the Best of Books Event

Link to the RJ Julia Booksellers Event

See you there!

Six Months Until Mary

 It's time to start counting down! It's six months until the release of the first book from our new series, the Marys! The first one is MY CONTRARY MARY, coming to bookstores on June 22, 2021.

Here's the short pitch: MY CONTRARY MARY is THE PRINCESS BRIDE meets REIGN (the TV show about Mary, Queen of Scots). Because the book stars MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. And also FRANCIS, the crown prince of France, Mary's betrothed. And also ARI, who you will not have heard of, because we totally made her up, but she's the daughter of NOSTRADAMUS, who you might have heard of.

Here's the official, longer description:

Welcome to Renaissance France, a place of poison and plots, of beauties and beasts, of mice and . . . queens?

Mary is the queen of Scotland and the jewel of the French court. Except when she’s a mouse. Yes, reader, Mary is an Eðian (shapeshifter) in a kingdom where Verities rule. It’s a secret that could cost her a head—or a tail.  

Luckily, Mary has a confidant in her betrothed, Francis. But things at the gilded court take a treacherous turn after the king meets a suspicious end. Thrust onto the throne, Mary and Francis face a viper’s nest of conspiracies, traps, and treason. And if Mary’s secret is revealed, heads are bound to roll.

Fun, right? This book was so much fun to write. It kept us laughing as we worked on it, that's for sure. And we really needed to laugh this year.

Now it's time to field some questions we imagine you might be having:

Imaginary Future Reader: The description uses the word E∂ian--is this book a sequel of MY LADY JANE???!!! Are we going to see Jane and G and Edward?

US: MY CONTRARY MARY is like all of the other Janie books, in that it is a standalone. But unlike the rest of the Janie books, it takes place in the same world as MY LADY JANE. There are E∂ians (people who can change into an animal form) and Verities (people who think that shapeshifting thing is just wrong). Mary, if you'll remember from her brief appearance in MY LADY JANE, can change into a mouse. And yes, you might spot some characters you already know and love if you look hard enough.

IFR: So do I have to read MY LADY JANE first?

US: No. You'll be able to understand this book just fine all on its own. But you might enjoy it a teensy bit more if you've recently read MY LADY JANE.

IFR: Does this mean Mary, Queen of Scots, is going to get a happy ending?

US: That is what we do. :) She is not going to get her head chopped off in the end, if that's what you're asking. . .

IFR: What about Francis?

US: What about him?

IFR: Does he die?

US: Um, well that would be a spoiler, now wouldn't it? You'll have to read to find out.

IFR: But you told us that Mary doesn't get her head chopped off. 

US: Yes, but that's kind of a given. Like we said, it's what we DO with these books.

IFR: But obviously, if Mary's going to get a happy ending, Francis can't die.

US: We can't comment on that. 

IFR: Sure you can.

US: You're making us uncomfortable, imaginary reader. Maybe Francis dies, as he does in history, of an ear infection or something, and then Mary meets the love of her life--some guy named Larry--and lives happily ever after. You don't know. That's why you have to READ THE BOOK.

IFR: Okay, okay. Fine. Don't tell us.

US: We will say that it probably the most romantic book we've ever written. That's all we'll say. Mary and Francis really do have feelings for each other that are clear right from the beginning. 

IFR: So Francis doesn't die pointlessly and he and Mary end up together and THIS IS ALL I EVER WANTED FROM LIFE.

US: *running away* See our BOOKS page for more information about MY CONTRARY MARY as we go!!!

Signed Bookplates for My Calamity Jane

It's almost time for MY CALAMITY JANE! In just over two weeks, our favorite Wild West Jane will be in the bookstores. . . but we, unfortunately, won't. We had a big tour planned for MCJ, but then, like everything these days, our plan had to change. So instead we have bookplates, signed by all three of us, available at the following bookstores. Click the link to go to their page and order a (sort of) signed copy

One More Page, Arlington VA

Rediscovered Books, Boise, ID

The King's English, Salt Lake City, UT

Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, TX

Gibson's Bookstore, Concord, NH

Books of Wonder, New York City, NY

McNally Robinson Books, Winnipeg, MB Canada

The Book Dragon, Staunton, VA

Brookline Booksmith, Brookline, MA




Would you like your local indie bookstore to get their own signed bookplates? Have them email us and get put on our list.

We are also going to be doing some podcasts (Fictional Hangover and Lit Service) and virtual events in the next few weeks, most notably at:

Gibson's Bookstore (www.gibsonsbookstore.com) on June 3, at 8pm ET

and

Rediscovered Books (rdbooks.org) on June 5, at 9pm ET

Here Come the Marys!

We're just going to leave this here for now, from Publishers Weekly:

Which one are you most excited for?

News and Tour Wrap up

So MY PLAIN JANE has been out for two weeks, and we Janies have been getting all the love!

In the first week we went on an amazing tour in which we:

Met a real live HEDGEHOG named Pixi Sticks in Salt Lake City!

Answered a lot of fun questions and performed a bit of MY PLAIN JANE (with costumes!)

(Thanks to the Fabulous Book Fiend for the fun video from our Denver event)

Almost melted in Phoenix, but we kept right on laughing

and then we returned to Salt Lake City, where the three of us sat down to start writing our next book, MY CALAMITY JANE. It was business as usual for the Janies:

And then something AMAZING happened:

MY PLAIN JANE hit the New York Times bestseller list!!!!!!!!

Needless to say, it was an amazing two weeks, and thanks so much to everyone who came out and supported us. We have the best, most enthusiastic, hilarious readers, and we love you all so much!

If you're feeling a bit cheated because we stuck to the western United States this time, and you live on the eastern side, we have good news. The Janies will be meeting up in August in Virginia to finish writing MY CALAMITY JANE, and while we're there, we'll be doing two book events. The first is at Barnes & Noble Charlottesville on Saturday, August 4th, at 12pm.

And the second will be at One More Page in Arlington on August 7 at 7pm:

So come and see us there! We promise that we will perform for you, too!

In less exciting news, we just sent copyright infringement takedowns to a huge amount of piracy sites. This depresses us so much. Please don't steal our books. At this stage, every single sale of MY PLAIN JANE counts so much, we can't emphasize enough how much it matters. We would really like to keep writing books together, but we can't do this if our sales aren't good enough. So please don't pirate!

On that note, we have some awesome news. MY PLAIN JANE is, as of this week, available at Target! But this is no ordinary version of our book. This version has a whole EXTRA CHAPTER at the end, like an epilogue to our epilogue. The Target version of the book is the only place you can get this extra content (which we had so much fun writing!), and they have only printed a limited amount of these, so once they are all sold, they're gone.

So run to Target, people! (Or you can get it online here.) And have a good laugh with us about the invention of the double date.

Thanks again for all the love for MY PLAIN JANE. We'll see you in the funny papers!

XOXO
The Janies

My Plain Jane COVER REVEAL

Hello, Janie fans! We are so excited today, because we've finally been given the green light to share the cover for our upcoming Jane novel--My Plain Jane. We love this cover so much!

But first, here's the book description:

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (yikes) and his uneven temper (YIKES) they fall in love--and, Reader, she marries him.

We have a different tale to tell.

Are you excited yet?

Well, then . . . here's a peek at the inside of the jacket:

And finally, HERE'S THE COVER:

Isn't it totally awesome???!!! Leave your comments below!

Lady Janies in Virginia!

We're hard at work on our new book, MY PLAIN JANE, but while we're together, we wanted to celebrate the release of the paperback for MY LADY JANE. We'll be doing an event at One More Page Books in Arlington, VA.

Come see us!

Young Adult Scavenger Hunt

Welcome to YA Scavenger Hunt! This bi-annual event was first organized by author Colleen Houck as a way to give readers a chance to gain access to exclusive bonus material from their favorite authors...and a chance to win some awesome prizes! At this hunt, you not only get access to exclusive content from each author, you also get a clue for the hunt. Add up the clues, and you can enter for our prize--one lucky winner will receive one book from each author on the hunt in our team! But play fast: this contest (and all the exclusive bonus material) will only be online for 72 hours!

Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. There are THREE contests going on simultaneously, and you can enter one or all! We are part of the ORANGE TEAM--

but there are also teams of many different colors for chances to win whole different sets of twenty signed books!

If you'd like to find out more about the hunt, see links to all the authors participating, and see the full list of prizes up for grabs, go to the YA Scavenger Hunt homepage. 

Scavenger Hunt Puzzle

Directions: Below, you'll notice that we've listed our favorite number. Collect the favorite numbers of all the authors on the teal team, and then add them up (don't worry, you can use a calculator!).

Entry Form: Once you've added up all the numbers, make sure you fill out the form here to officially qualify for the grand prize. Only entries that have the correct number will qualify.

Rules: Open internationally, anyone below the age of 18 should have a parent or guardian's permission to enter. To be eligible for the grand prize, you must submit the completed entry form by April 3, at noon Pacific Time. Entries sent without the correct number or without contact information will not be considered.

Scavenger Hunt Post

Today, we are hosting Sara B. Larson for the YA Scavenger Hunt!

Here's some information about Sara:

Sara B. Larson

Sara B. Larson is the author of the acclaimed YA fantasy DEFY trilogy: DEFY, IGNITE, and ENDURE, and the forthcoming DARK BREAKS THE DAWN. She can’t remember a time when she didn’t write books—although she now uses a computer instead of a Little Mermaid notebook. Sara lives in Utah with her husband, their children, and their Maltese, Loki. She writes in brief snippets throughout the day (while mourning the demise of naptime) and the quiet hours when most people are sleeping. Her husband claims she should have a degree in “the art of multitasking.” When she’s not mothering or writing, you can often find her at the gym repenting for her sugar addiction

Find out more information by checking out Sara's website!

Check out Sara's books here!

And here's a peek at the cover of her new book: 

SPOILER ALERT if you haven't read the series!!

At last, Alexa and King Damian are engaged to be married. But their lives are far from safe. The kingdom of Antion is under siege, and Rylan is a prisoner of the enemy. Even worse, Alexa remains at the mercy of the evil Dansiian Rafe, who controls her mind and can force Alexa to kill or harm Damian at any moment. Despite this, Alexa is determined to rescue Rylan, which soon leads her far from Damian and deep into enemy territory.

When she arrives, what awaits her is deadlier than anything she could have ever imagined: an army of black sorcerers and a horrifying plot to destroy the world as Alexa knows it. Will she be able to gather the strength to free herself, protect the love of her life, and save the land? Will there ever be true peace?

Acclaimed author Sara B. Larson has woven a stunning, romantic, and evocative finale to the Defy trilogy that is sure to leave readers breathless until the very last page.

Exclusive Content -

Here's the exclusive content that Sara sent over just for you. 

From Sarah: Last spring I did the first half of a bonus scene from the DEFY series - the wedding scene for Damian and Alexa. This time I am doing the second half of the same scene. It is obviously spoilery if someone hasn't read the series, read at your own risk. :-) 

I squeezed Alexa’s hand as King Osgand looked first to her, then me, then to the crowd gathered behind us.

“It is my honor and privilege to stand before you all today, especially King Damian and his chosen bride,” he began, his deep voice resonating all the way to the far reaches of the Grand Hall. I was fairly certain I was supposed to keep my gaze forward, but I couldn’t resist looking down at Alexa once more as King Osgand continued to speak.  She was radiant in the simple but beautiful dress she’d had made to replicate the one her mother had worn so many years before. The perfume from the flowers wreathing her dark hair mingled with that of the soap she must have used that morning to create a heady blend that had me wishing the ceremony was already over and we were alone in—

She squeezed my hand once and I snapped my gaze forward to see King Osgand looking at me expectantly, an amused gleam in his eye.

“Do you wish to declare your intent to go forward with this marriage before your people?” He prompted quietly.

“Yes, yes I do,” I immediately—and loudly—answered.

“Excellent.” King Osgand smiled at me; and though we’d fought side by side in the war as equals, I couldn’t help but feel as though I were a young boy caught at mischief for a brief moment. But then he continued, “Alexa and Damian, you may face each other and recite your vows.”

The moment her gaze met mine I nearly lost the ability to breath—let alone speak. But thankfully, she was supposed to go first.

Alexa swallowed hard, once, a telltale sheen in her hazel eyes as we faced one another. “Damian,” she began, her voice raw with emotion, “you are my safe place in the storms of life. You are the one who loves all of me, good and bad—my other half, and the one I love, more than words can express.” Her voice trembled as she continued and I had to fight the urge to gather her in my arms, hoping instead that she could feel my encouragement and love through our joined hands. “I vow today before all these witnesses that I will forever pledge my heart and my life to you. I am yours, body and soul, until both shall cease to exist.”

Her vow—which I hadn’t heard until that moment—struck such a deep chord in me, I was unable to speak for a long moment, as I tried to compose myself. Her love was the greatest gift I’d ever been given—that and the fact that we had both somehow survived my father’s reign of terror, my uncle’s monstrosities, and everything else that had tried to tear us apart. So much loss, so much pain and hurt, had brought us to this moment. And, in a bittersweet way, that only made our joy more exquisite—more precious.

“Alexa,” I finally managed, my voice nearly breaking, “I loved you long before you truly knew who I was, and I wake up every morning in awe that you somehow came to love me in return.” She squeezed my hands again, her face shining with that love, that I still couldn’t quite believe was for me. “I will spend the rest of my life cherishing you, loving you, and helping you to see how truly beautiful you are—in every way possible, inside and out. You are my dearest friend, my true family, my Queen, and my heart. And I am yours, forever. This I vow, until the end of time.”

She smiled up at me, one tear finally slipping free to slide down her scarred cheek. I tenderly wiped it away, cupping her cheek as King Osgand announced:

“In witness of their vows, I declare you husband and wife—King and Queen! You may kiss your bride!”

A cheer rose from the crowd but I could barely hear a thing over the pounding of my heart as I finally did what I had been wanting to do since I first laid eyes on Alexa walking down the aisle toward me.

I wrapped my arms around her and kissed my queen—my beautiful, amazing wife.

Enter the Contest

That was awesome! Now don't forget to enter the contest for a chance to win a ton of signed books and more! To enter, you need to know that our favorite number is 3. Add up all the favorite numbers of the authors on the orange team and you'll have all the secret code to enter for the grand prize!

Continue the Hunt

To keep going on your quest for the hunt, you need to check out the next author! Click here!

More Janes!

So the Janies have been sitting on this little secret for a while.



But today's the day! Today we can finally share! We have the VERY BEST NEWS EVER!



It can all be summed up right here:

Yep, that's right. The Janies are going to be writing TWO MORE JANE BOOKS!

TWO.

MORE.

JANES.

We just spent a week in our secret hideaway in Utah working on MY PLAIN JANE. We're almost halfway done with a first draft! And we are LOVING IT--Jane Eyre gives us the giggles. Because we're weird that way. And we love making each other laugh. And we love Janes!

To say that we are excited about getting to write two more books is a bit of an understatement. So we'll leave with how we really feel:

---

ADD THEM TO YOUR GOODREADS!

MY PLAIN JANE

MY CALAMITY JANE

Jane's Reign: Winners!

Hello, friends!

We have spent the day poring over contest entries and we are pleased to announce our winners! 

Winners, please email us your physical addresses at ladyjanies@gmail.com so we can get your prizes out to you as soon as possible!

Day 1, for the Spread the Word Contest: Isabelle Coyne

Day 2, for The Princess Bride trivia: Sydney Clogston

Day 3, for the Poisoned Pie contest: Chelsea Ruiz

We laughed so hard when we saw this one.

Day 4, for the Best British Accent contest: Leila Rheaume

Day 5, for the Jane's Library contest: Alice Lionel

Day 6, for the Photoshop contest: Jacinda Starr

Day 7, for the Cary Elwes contest: Kimberly V

Day 8, for the You As Queen contest: Grace

Day 9, for the Hat Tips contest: Katelyn

Jane's Reign: Day Nine

Day Nine! Today is the last day Jane's reign before our favorite queen is deposed! Don't forget that you can still enter all of our contests for our array of fun prize packs until midnight tonight. The winners will be announced tomorrow. Good luck!

Today's post is about hat tips. One of the things we had the most fun with while writing MY LADY JANE was finding places to tip our hats to our favorite movies and books. MLJ is loaded with Easter eggs. Some of them are pretty overt, (inconceivable!) and some are pretty sneaky.

Here's a list of some of the books and movies we paid tribute to in MLJ:

The Princess Bride. Obviously.
Monty Python. Because nobody expects the Monty Python.
Tangled. Who knew?
Game of Thrones. Because we too have games and thrones in our book.
Ever After. One of the best rebelling a of Cinderella ever, with the worst English accents.
Star Wars. Because all good fantasies of whatever genre owe something to Star Wars.
Shakespeare (there are actually over 50 Shakespeare quotes in MLJ, for. . . .reasons.)

And so many more!

So here's today's contest: find as many hat tips as you can in MY LADY JANE and email us a list--with the line and the page number, preferably. You'll already have an advantage in this contest if you've done our Princess Bride search. Happy hunting!

The Prize:

The biggest prize of all! The Lady Janies are currently writing our next Jane book (but, er, we can't tall you much about it yet. But it is so funny, and we're having the best time writing it!) So the prize for this contest is YOUR NAME (in some form) IN OUR NEXT BOOK. Basically, you'll get a character named after you!

Tune in tomorrow for our list of winners!

Day 8 of Jane's Reign: LadyJanie Bloopers, where we mess up a lot...

Hey there!

Today's post is short and sweet. We made a video of all the times we messed up during our research trip to England. If you were at one of our tour stops, you might have seen the video. If not... here we are making dorks of ourselves. Enjoy!

Contest: To win an awesome swag pack, tell us in the comments what you would do if you were Queen of England!
 

Day Seven of Jane's Reign: Gifford, Cary Elwes, Comedy and a Contest!

Hello, yon Janieville!

Today, Day Seven of Jane's Reign, we are paying tribute to her real husband, Lord Guildford Dudley, and our version of her husband, Gifford (Call him G).

Here's the real Guildford:
                         

And here's Wesley. From Princess Bride. Because if you've read My Lady Jane, you understand how much we love Princess Bride.
                     

Sometimes we picture Cary Elwes when we picture our Gifford. We often get asked how our characters match up with the historical ones, so below we have compiled the similarities and differences between historical Guildford and our own beloved G.

	Guildford Dudley	Gifford (Call him G)
Siblings	Like 9, dude.	Two. Stan and Gertie.
Hair Color	Blonde	Chestnut (of the Chestnut Steed Variety)
Conniving Father?	Yep.	Yes. Evil too.
Did He Eagerly Anticipate Marriage to Jane Grey?	Unknown.	Nope.
Wedding Night?	Got food poisoning.	Got sloshed.
Carved Jane’s name in the Tower of London?	Yep. Twice.	Yep. Once. Before he was saved by a… weasel? Large squirrel? No, cat-snake!
Horse?	Unknown.	Yes, he is. From sun up to sun down.
Is Shakespeare?	No.	We’re merely authors, not Shakespeare experts. Who are we to say? Anyone could have been the real Shakespeare. Heck, my grandma might be Shakespeare.
Was handsome?	Yes.	He would never dream of saying so. He simply knows his friends have called him handsome on several occasions.
Loved reading books?	Unknown.	Truthfully, he preferred nibbling books rather than reading them.  What’s the harm in that? You’ve heard of people devouring books, haven’t you? *Ducks as Jane hurls book toward head*
Was beheaded?	Yes. And burned.	Read the book!

Now for the contest! First, tell us your favorite Cary Elwes movie in the comments. Last, email us  (at ladyjanies@gmail.com) your favorite pic of Cary Elwes. 

We'll choose our favorite from the entries, and you will receive a signed copy of Cary Elwes book! (Reminder that all winners will be announced on July 18th).